Beulah R. Bettersworth (American artist, 1894-1964) Christopher Street Greenwich Village, 1934A wintry corner of Greenwich Village as artist Beulah Bettersworth knew it, when she and her husband lived at 95 Christopher Street, just a block away. Closely observed details draw the viewer into the painting to join Bettersworth’s 1934 neighbors hurrying through the slushy snow & catching a whiff of tobacco from the cigar store in the foreground. Snow melts from the roof of St. Veronica’s Catholic Church, whose towers are visible behind the Ninth Avenue “L” station. The elevated train station had been an elegant Victorian adaptation of a Swiss chalet, when it was built in 1867; but by Bettersworth’s time it was an aging relic soon to be torn down. Like the rusting “L,” the famous bohemian artistic colony that had enlivened Greenwich Village in the early 20th century had faded as the decades passed. Yet artists like Bettersworth still found homes there; and with the advent of the Great Depression, low rents attracted a new generation of poverty-stricken young poets & painters to the Village’s storied garrets.

American artist Guy Carleton Wiggins became famous for his paintings of New York City's snowy streets, landmarks & towering skyscrapers during winter. Wiggins was born into an artistic family; his father Carleton Wiggins was an accomplished artist who gave his son his first training as a painter. Later he enrolled in architectural school, but changed direction by entering the National Academy of Design to study painting. His teachers at the academy were William Merritt Chase & Robert Henri. He became one of the youngest members of the Lyme Art Colony of Old Lyme, Connecticut, painting alongside his father, Carleton, Childe Hassam, & Frank Vincent DuMond.

The Great Blizzard of 1888 (March 11-14, 1888) was one of the most severe recorded blizzards in the history of the United States of America. Snowfalls of 20–60 inches fell in parts of New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, & Connecticut, with sustained winds of more than 45 miles per hour producing snowdrifts in excess of 50 feet.

Roads were impassable, railroads were shut down, & people were confined to their houses for up to a week. The New York Stock Exchange was closed for two days.

William James Glackens (American artist, 1870-1938) Central Park in Winter, 1905William James Glackens (1870-1938) was an American realist painter & one of the founders of the Ashcan School of American art. His dark-hued, vibrantly painted street scenes & depictions of daily life in pre-WW I New York & Paris first established his reputation as a major artist. His later work was brighter in tone reflecting influence of Renoir. During much of his career as a painter, Glackens also worked as an illustrator for newspapers & magazines in Philadelphia & New York City.

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On March 4, 2011, Emile de Bruijn of the National Trust in the UK, wrote on his blog "Treasure Hunt" of making history & art available to all: "Traditionally art history has been inherently elitist & exclusive, both socially & intellectually. Art tended to be commissioned by the upper classes. Connoisseurship was seen as a superior, refined skill & the products of art-historical scholarship were guarded almost as fiercely as the art itself."

On May 29, 1012, William Noel, now Director of Special Collections Center & Director of Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies. University of Pennsylvania, told The TED Blog, "...digital data is not a threat to real data, it’s just an advertisement that only increases the aura of the original, so there just doesn’t seem to be any point in putting restrictions on the data. There is the further fact that the data is funded by taxpayers’ money. So it didn’t seem fair to limit what taxpayers could do with the data that they paid for."

On February 7, 2017, Thomas P. Campbell, Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, announced a new policy: all images of public-domain artworks in the Museum's collection are now available for free & unrestricted use. "We have been working toward the goal of sharing our images with the public for a number of years. Our comprehensive & diverse museum collection spans 5,000 years of world culture & our core mission is to be open & accessible for all who wish to study & enjoy the works of art in our care. Increasing access to the Museum’s collection & scholarship serves the interests & needs of our 21C audiences by offering new resources for creativity, knowledge, & ideas."